


goodbye qugrea

by whatcaniwriteinthis



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types
Genre: Backstory, Family, Family Separation, Fantastic Racism, Gen, I hope that's the right tag, Tieflings, heritage erasure, like there's racism but towards a fantasy race, she's a tiefling she has to have a sad backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-19 15:30:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19359745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatcaniwriteinthis/pseuds/whatcaniwriteinthis
Summary: Kalech never wanted to leave her there. He knows she will be safe—knows she will be trained and educated and strong.He hopes she will be cared for.





	goodbye qugrea

**Author's Note:**

> so this is the backstory for my first ever dnd character a lesbian tiefling monk named Serenity. i love her so much so ofc i have to give her a sad beginning and a disconnect from her culture :)
> 
> also!! my bestie cara [drew serenity](https://twitter.com/psychicrebelart/status/1143373386053234689?s=21)!!

Kalech never _wanted_ to leave her there. He hopes she knows that. He hopes she remembers that. He knows she will be safe—no one dares attack a monastery, not for a child. He knows she will be trained and educated and strong.

He hopes she will be cared for.

The thought comes to him the very moment he sees the monastery, rising above trees on the side of a mountain, the moment those monks look at him and his two children, the three of them tired and dusty and scared. Relief floods him immediately, and the idea saunters after.

Amemon is crying silently, tears streaming down his face and dropping, one by one, into the dirt. Qugrea has picked up on the fear and tension between the three of them, and is still and quiet against Kalech’s chest.

The monks pull them inside and close the gates. Kalech can hear the mob yelling, more than a mile away.

Kalech is no fool. He can see the suspicion in the monks’ eyes. He knows their prejudice, but they are ~~good~~ _religious_ people. Religious people protect the weak. And he has children with him.

It’s almost sundown when his family stumbles in. The monks invite him for dinner, for the night. Kalech accepts, beyond grateful.

Hi thinks about it during dinner, holding this idea in his hands as delicately as he holds Qugrea herself. The children around him are mostly human, but there are other races: elves, half-elves, even a few dragonborn, their scales glinting in the candlelight.

Amemon is too old. He’s almost thirteen and large for his age, towering over everyone as he hunches his shoulders and lowers his head. His horns are tall and twisted and obvious. He’s started learning magic. He’s stubborn and impatient and would never leave Kalech.

Qugrea is not even a single year old. She’s smaller than she should be and gets sick easily. A family of tieflings looks suspicious. He knows this. This is why they were attacked. Kalech isn’t sure where they’re heading, only that it’s far away. Kalech isn’t sure how long their journey will take, only that it will take a long time. Kalech isn’t sure how they will travel, only that it will be dangerous.

Qugrea toddles on shaky legs to one of the dragonborn, who smiles brightly and pats her soft hair. Kalech thinks of Qugrea’s mother and the faith she put in him, leaving their child with him.

Kalech knows what he needs to do.

He tells Amemon after they eat, as they lie down about to sleep. Amemon cries again, tears thick and heavy and silent. Qugrea cries too, loud and dramatic and angry. Kalech gathers his children against his chest and lets his own tears fall.

Qugrea tires herself out first, falling asleep slumped onto her brother’s lap. Amemon follows soon after, still holding his sister tight to himself. Kalech stays awake the whole night, holding them as he watches first the moon and then the sun travel across the sky. He stays awake, hoarding their last moments as three.

In the morning, two monks see him and his son off the head monk, a serious looking old human, who Kalech thanks profusely for a single nod in response, and a young half-elf who holds a still sleepy Qugrea. Amemon gives her one last hug before stepping away for Kalech to say goodbye. He looks sad, but he’s standing tall and his eyes are dry. Kalech’s chest swells, even as it’s weighed down by sadness. Amemon has learnt to maintain appearance well.

“Thank you.” Kalech tells the two monks again. He steps up to his daughter and kisses her brow, between her small horns. “I love you.” he whispers in Infernal. The monks they flinch, but Kalech pretends not to notice. “Stay brave darling.” He kisses her one last time and steps away.

Kalech and Amemon both bow to the monks and leave, not looking back once. They get half a mile down the road before Amemon starts crying again.

 

 

(Two and a half days later, on a covered wagon, in a caravan travelling across the desert, Kalech bolts upright, already in tears. The monks never asked Qugrea’s name.)


End file.
